


Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo: Underneath The Mask

by insanemuppet



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Nico di Angelo Needs a Hug, Nico di Angelo has a Crush on Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug, The Gods Are Kind of D-Wads, no beta we die like my grades
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanemuppet/pseuds/insanemuppet
Summary: Years have passed since Percy Jackson decided to cut himself off from most of the godly world. However, things might have to change as his powers continue to grow.
Relationships: Clarisse La Rue/Chris Rodriguez, Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. chapter one , HOW THEY HAD CHANGED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy wakes from a recurring nightmare and has a soft moment with the Di Angelo boy, while thinking back to his past.

**PERCY JACKSON, THE HERO OF OLYMPUS, WAS TERRIFIED**. He looked up to the haunting figure of Tartarus, one that would make even Phobos himself scared, one that Zeus would instantly bow to, and watched as he killed Annabeth, his first love. A scream he realized was his a second later was torn from his throat, one filled to the brim with horror, grief and loss.

It was a good thing it was only a dream. He woke up in a cold sweat, alone and scared for dear life. He could only hope he hadn’t screamed out in his sleep, He had only gotten to sleep two hours earlier according to the alarm clock next to his bed. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the only one awake in the house at the time.

In his sleep induced daze, he had forgotten about Nico. His cousin had showed up a day earlier, bloody and bruised as a result from a fight with a mob of telekines. Nico shadow travelled into the room with two mugs of hot chocolate, scaring Percy for only a second before he relaxed at the realization that it was only the son of Hades.

“Nightmare?” Nico asked, voice softer than usual yet his face not showing anything but a stone wall. Percy nodded, taking the offered cup of coco without being bothered by the heat of the mug. Drinking from the River of Fire had made his hands ignore heat more, which was handy in certain situations.

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, only sounds being shifting of positions or sips of the chocolate goodness. Percy found himself glancing at Nico’s brown milk mustache and finding humor in it, the brown standing out against pale skin.

Over the years, Nico’s style had changed to a softer look, gaining less of a ghoulish look to him. He looked healthier, less dead. Pale cheeks where bones once stood out were still sharp, but filled out. He was still skinnier than normal, but not I-haven’t-eaten-in-a-week-on-purpose kind of way. He dressed in more of a medium gray than blacks now, making his pale tone even out a bit more. Less chains, more studs. Two ear piercings that Percy had admired since Nico got them, a skull and crossbones in one earlobe, industrial black steel over it. He had even gotten a stud in his lip, one that had Percy stuttering over his words for the first month. A shiny black diamond, provided by the roman version of his father, was the centerpiece of the piercing.

They had both changed. It was, what now, six years since they defeated Gaea? Percy was 22 now, a tattoo artist in a small shop in Queens. He had avoided college, or any social interaction for years after the Giant War, instead picking up drawing and the arts. He drew the things he’d been, the faces that haunted him, until they stopped haunting them slowly. After that, he drew about the things he had fought until he was picked up by the owner of the tattoo shop he now worked at and offered a job.

He had changed physically as well. While he still worked out and fought off monsters that came for him, he had lost some muscle and picked up tattoos. Lighting bolts, fire and doves covered his forearms, a reminder of his fallen friends. His back was decorated with other tattoos, ones that reminded him of his past as a demigod.

Not only that, but his relationship with the gods had changed. After the Giant War, he was done. He made the most selfish decision of his life, he decided to cut off the gods. He made sure that if they wanted to, certain people could visit as wanted such as his at-the-time girlfriend, Nico, Grover, Tyson, his father, Clairsee and the rest of the seven. Other than that, he could come and go as he pleased.

Not a single godly being was happy with this other than Nico, his only supporter. Tyson didn’t understand his decision, but was still IMing him every week. His mother was overjoyed, his step-father confused but supportive as usual and Estelle just Estelle.

Percy was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Nico call his name. “Huh?”

Nico shook his head, a bit exasperated. Then he turned serious, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Percy thought about it for a second. “No. But…” His face was hesitant and he shifted, bringing his arms closer to himself in uncertainty. Nico dipped his head and prodded Percy to go on. Percy took a short breath before rushing out, “Could you hold me?”

Nico looked like he was about to drop his hot chocolate in shock, but shook himself out of it when he saw Percy draw into himself more. “Sure.”

It was comforting to Percy, how he didn’t question it. Didn’t push. It reminded him about Annabeth for a split second, how she wouldn’t let him be, how she would question everything until she had all the answers in the world and he didn’t know if he was sad or happy about that.

So he took a page from Nico’s book and didn’t question it.

Nico, about the size of Percy now, took both the mugs from each of them and set them on the bedside table. Then, slowly letting Percy move with him, he moved into a position where his chest was against the older boy’s back, arms wrapping around him and settling into the bed.

Percy took all the comfort he could from that, head tipping back against Nico’s body and just laying there, slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.


	2. chapter two , A BONE CHILLING REVELATION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico Di Angelo realizes his new but familiar feelings for the other boy and the readers discover some recent problems Percy has had as of late.

**NICO DI ANGELO, THE GHOST KING, HAD DISCOVERED SOMETHING HORRIFYING.** A terrible thought, chilling feeling, scary realization. It meant certain doom, painful death, hellfire waiting for him in the fields of punishment. A spot next to the worst of the worst, watching his demigod friends from a distance as they party in Elysium.

His tiny, itty-bitty, miniscule crush on Percy Jackson had returned from the deep grave it was buried in.

It was most certainly the worst day of his life. Though, listening to the other boy’s heartbeat and breath against him, cuddled up as the sun rose through the blue transparent curtains, it felt like the best day. He felt like smiling wider than Apollo, dancing with the naiads, singing with the satyrs. 

Gods, he was going to be sick. Was it from disgust over these feelings he has for someone who he considered a cousin a year ago, the little yappy 10 year old in his brain going ‘He’s so hot I might faint.” or butterflies from said feelings?

Slowly and carefully, he pulled himself out of the bed, making sure no cold air from outside the bed hit the older boy. A hard task and one he failed, due to how their limbs were tangled up in their shared trip to Morpheus’ realm. He froze as Percy unconsciously turned towards Nico, shifting for what seemed like forever before continuing to snore and drool. Everything in Nico all of the sudden wanted to jump back into bed and sleep the day away, seeing the raven-haired man’s face was making it even harder for him to walk away. 

Still, he did, shadow-travelling into the kitchen and starting up some cheap coffee in Percy’s well used coffee maker. Not for the other boy, that would be a disaster mixed with Percy’s ADHD, but it kept Nico calm and even though it was cheap coffee, it reminded him of home and the smell of his mother making it in the morning.

While it was brewing, he had time to think. Something he didn’t specifically enjoy doing, especially in this case. He had to think about feelings. 

His last relationship- only relationship -hadn’t turned out too bad. Will was still a good friend of his, still his doctor though still not legally. They had ended on bad terms, but worked it out when they both figured they still weren’t happy without each other. Tried again, decided they were much better as friends. Nico’s shadow travelling and darker parts of him were still him, no matter if they were bad for him or not and Will couldn’t seem to understand why he had to do it. Will was tired of constant worrying, wondering if he was passed out in some ally in China, wondering if he was in the underworld doing his fathers chores. They were both sick of dealing with each other constantly, and needed to be on their own. 

Not soon after, Percy and Annabeth fell apart. Percy grew even more distant from the godly world, Annabeth and Nico being the two strongest connections to it. He became more and more like a regular mortal, his wish from the Giant War, keeping away the stronger monsters with his scent being disguised. Usually, he only fought one monster a week. Sometimes he could go months. Nico was one of the only ones who visited anymore. Poseidon stopped coming after his twentieth birthday for reasons unknown to Nico, Tyson only calling once a week and Rachel coming by once a month. Rarely, Clarisse would come by. Usually to yell at Percy and leave, never seeing the damage it did to him. Nico hated her for it.

That was when he noticed the flying coffee. Picking up his mug, he scooped some out of the air until it filled the brim and followed it to Percy's room, ducking under it to get through the door. He sighed, too tired for this, and set his mug in the growing collection of mugs on Percy's nightstand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he called out, "Percy. Wake up, your doing it again." 

"Nico?" Percy sat up a bit, squinted at how bright the sun was, as it was ten am now. Both boys flinched a bit when the sound of coffee hitting the ground reached them, Percy's face going from tired to guilty. The older boy flopped back down against the bed, hard enough to knock the air out of his body. "I did it again didn't I?" Percy looked even more guilty now, slightly curling up into himself. It happened every time he accidentally controlled something that wasn't water, the overwhelming guilt leading into self isolation. Sometimes he wouldn't come out of his room for days- calling in sick was a frequent habit -only opening the door to sneak in a shower once Nico left and get a stock of food before running into his room as soon as he somehow _sensed_ that Nico was coming back. Nico had no idea why it happened, nor what Percy- the ADHD, dyslexic who couldn't use electronics without possibly dying from monsters -did in that time. ~~_Well, he could think of a few things that made him blush a bit, but he couldn't do that for a week straight._~~

Nico nodded before surprising both of them by crawling into the bed _with Percy_ and moving back into a similar position to that he woke in. He spared no room between their bodies without making Percy or himself uncomfortable, snugly side by side with the son of the sea god. Picking his coffee up like he didn't just do something completely out of character of him, he took a sip before looking over at the other demigod. "Want to," He could barely get the words out of his mouth without cringing, but Will's voice in his head screaming about communication being a good thing for any relationship pushed him onwards, "...talk about it?"

Percy looked at him, a teasing look coming up on his face straight after a completely terrified, frantic and shell-shocked one. "Do I want to know how hard it was for you to say that?"

Nico shot him down with one look. "Percy, I'm serious. You need to talk about this sometime. It's not going to just _go away_ if you don't acknowledge it." Percy seemed to get smaller as the Italian boy talked, sinking into the sheets. Nico let out a sigh, closing his eyes briefly to go over what he wanted to say before opening them with a softer look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Perce. I'm just... _worried._ Seeing you like this- so afraid of _whatever_ you're afraid of -and shutting down so fast is hard. I can't tell you how many times it took all my restraint not to shadow travel in here or break down the door to make sure your still even _alive._ "

Percy looked terrified as ever, but his mouth was open and he let a pregnant pause happen before he answered. "If you just _hold me now,_ then I'll tell you after dinner. I promise." It was rare that Percy didn't keep a promise he made, so Nico put down his coffee that was soon-to-be abandoned before moving to hold the older boy as tight as he wanted to until their stomachs ached for food and throats were dry from dehydration. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these chapters are short but I'm editing for someone rn and life always manages to get busy at the worst times and excuses excuses...
> 
> Anywho, would ya'll be comfortable if like every chapter ended with a cuddle session? Because that would be cute af.


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